European Union: Competition—Abuse of dominant position
On 13 May 2019, the European Commission fined Anheuser-Busch InBev NV/SA (AB InBev) €200,409,000 for abusing the company’s dominance in the Belgian beer sector because the company relabelled one of its beer brands and also restricted supply of that brand so as to deter the cross-border sales of the brand within the EU. The company was, the Commission believed, hoping to prevent parallel trade between EU Member States.
This case is interesting because it is not the traditional "anti-competitive arrangements" case about parallel trade (e.g. an agreement between a manufacturer and a distributor to curb parallel trade) but rather an abuse of dominance case about parallel trade (i.e. a unilateral act by a dominant undertaking).
It shows how in a globalised market, choice of language and marketing material matter and it is not always lawful to market a product for one country in a way which is designed to prevent export of the product to another country.
Dr Vincent Power of A&L Goodbody's EU, Competition and Procurement Group analyses the case in the attached note published in the International Company and Commercial Law Review by Thomson Reuters.
Date published: 22 August 2019